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Even so, Daenerys still believed she could win.
She had three dragons.
She had the fierce and battle-hardened Dothraki.
She had the Unsullied, fearless and disciplined.
Yes.
She could win.
If it were up to Jimmy, the answer would be simple. Let the three dragons lead the way and burn straight through everything in front of them. Kneel or turn to ash.
Unfortunately, Daenerys had been led too far astray by Varys and his endless cautions.
Did she want to be adored by the realm, or did she want to be Queen of the Ashes?
What a ridiculous choice.
Those willing to submit would submit in the end.
Those unwilling would never yield, no matter how rciful she tried to be.
Take Cersei, for example.
She already sat on the Iron Throne as queen. What could anyone possibly offer her that would make her bend the knee?
Daenerys still believed victory was hers, but in the short term, she did not hold a decisive advantage.
And if Cersei managed to recover from this setback and drag the war into a long campaign, Daenerys would be in real trouble.
She had no true territory to support her, and with Varys whispering caution into her ear at every turn, even if she did not collapse outright, she was bound to suffer for it.
Now the North had co offering an alliance.
And judging by appearances, its forces would not be easily swept aside. At the very least, they seed stronger than Dorne or Highgarden had been.
As for Highgarden's army, there was hardly anything worth saying. They had been mocked as the finest dancing knights in the Seven Kingdoms.
Dorne, on the other hand, had not lacked strength. Its problem was Ellaria.
A woman consud by hatred.
She lacked judgnt, thought only of vengeance, and had no vision beyond her own anger.
As if that were not enough, she poisoned the only bargaining chip on her own side and killed Prince Doran, a man with imnse support among his people.
Faced with allies like that, who did nothing but throw themselves away and drag the cause down with them, even Daenerys had been left helpless.
So now that the North had co forward, of course she wanted to draw it in.
The problem was Ned Stark.
He had helped overthrow her father, and Daenerys could not let that go.
That was why she kept insisting the North bend the knee before any alliance could be made.
As for Tyrion's talk of White Walkers, she did not believe a word of it.
…
At last, Jimmy lost patience.
"Your Grace, how about this. You take your dragons, I take my eagle, and the two of us fly over there and burn the Red Keep to the ground."
"No." Varys cut in at once. "There are countless innocents inside the Red Keep. You are asking Her Grace to commit an atrocity. A ruler must respect life."
"The queen has broken chains. She has freed slaves. That is why people follow her."
"If she seizes the Red Keep by burning civilians alive, then even if she wins the castle, how many people in Westeros will still support her rule afterward?"
"So instead, we just sit here and watch Cersei haul her grain back ho, raise more armies, and co back to fight you?" Jimmy shot back.
"At that point, it won't only be common people dying. Your soldiers will be dying too."
To Jimmy, Varys's thinking was absurd.
Most people lived by one simple rule. Better soone else die than yourself.
But Varys seed to do the exact opposite. He always ended up ruining the very people he claid to serve, giving his wholehearted loyalty to soone only to lead them straight into disaster.
By now, even Daenerys was starting to understand the problem.
It was as though she held a bomb in her hands, yet insisted on playing the ga as if she had only small cards to throw.
"I think I understand the situation now," Jimmy said. "So let's do this. As a sign of goodwill, I'll send every ship we have to your side."
"As for submission…"
"The North remains the North. The Riverlands go back to House Tully. Casterly Rock returns to the lions. We can take those places ourselves."
"But before you ask the North, the Riverlands, and the Westerlands to bend the knee, there is one question you need to answer."
He fixed his eyes on her.
"Will you keep clinging to old hatred?"
"Jai killed your father. Ned helped overthrow his rule. Gendry's father killed Prince Rhaegar."
"Are those debts you still intend to collect?"
"If revenge is what you want, I'll turn around and walk out right now."
"But if you can let go of that hatred and take the Iron Throne first, then I will speak for those three regions and swear them to you."
He held her gaze without wavering.
"Compared to a madwoman like Cersei, I would rather see you rule."
Jimmy's words landed like the final stroke of a hamr.
Now all that remained was for Daenerys to answer.
Daenerys thought it over, then said, "I can forgive Ned Stark and the Baratheon rebellion. The Kingslayer is another matter."
"No, no, no. Not forgive. Let go."
Jimmy shook his head.
"When the Mad King ruled, no one had a path to survival. Not even Jai. If Jai hadn't killed him, no one would have lived."
"You saw the Great Sept, didn't you? Cersei turned it into a field of white ash with wildfire."
"That was only part of what the Mad King had hidden beneath King's Landing. He ant to burn the entire city to the ground."
"If he had succeeded, do you really think Westeros would have greeted you kindly when you returned?"
"Everyone acted to survive. So this isn't about forgiveness. It's about putting the past down."
He watched her steadily.
"If the woman you are now had stood before the Mad King back then, you would have had no choice but to kill him too."
"And if your brother Rhaegar had chosen to kill the Mad King and take the Iron Throne himself, House Targaryen might still be ruling Westeros today."
Daenerys's face hardened.
"I cannot let go of the Kingslayer. He is selfish, faithless, and ruled only by himself. There is no greater cause in him."
Jimmy sighed and glanced at Tyrion.
"Tyrion, I'm trying very hard here for the sake of that brotherly love you still carry around."
Then he turned back to Daenerys.
"Fine. Let's make a wager."
"If the Kingslayer hears about the army of the dead in the North and still cos north, then he ca for sothing bigger than himself. In that case, you spare him."
"If he doesn't co, then you're right. He's selfish to the bone, and if you kill him, I won't interfere."
Daenerys held his gaze for a mont, then nodded.
"Agreed."
Her pride would never allow her to release Jai without a reason.
"Good. Then let's talk about what cos next."
Jimmy's tone sharpened.
"We can work together here. But as for Cersei, unless she's made to hurt, she will keep causing trouble."
He turned toward Varys.
"Find their grain convoy. Destroy it. The n escorting it count as soldiers, don't they?"
The look in Jimmy's eyes made it very clear that one wrong answer might get soone killed.
Varys said nothing.
Daenerys spoke first.
"I agree."
"Good. I'll bring the eagle. You bring the dragons. Add in your ships, and we strike once."
"Agreed. But this eagle you keep ntioning…" Daenerys glanced at Jimmy's shoulder. "You don't an that one, do you?"
She had been curious about it for a while now. What kind of eagle could possibly be spoken of in the sa breath as dragons?
"Of course I do." Jimmy tilted his head. "Horus, say hello to the queen."
Horus lifted his head proudly.
"Greetings, Your Grace. Horus offers his respect."
When he felt like it, Horus could be surprisingly dependable.
Daenerys blinked.
"A remarkable eagle."
Remarkable?
She hadn't seen anything yet.
…
The supply train was rolling down the Rose Road when the horns began to sound.
Then ca the tremor.
The ground shook like distant thunder, and the stones scattered across the road started to rattle.
"Form up. Defend the convoy."
Defend it?
There was no defending this.
The first thing that ca into view was the Dothraki cavalry.
But even that was not what drove despair into Jai's heart.
What truly broke him was what ca overhead.
Three dragons.
And beside them, a giant red eagle.
"Dracarys."
At Daenerys's command, dragonfire poured from the sky.
At the sa ti, Jimmy directed Horus toward the wagons.
The supply train stretched along the Rose Road in a line so long it seed endless. Horus started at one end and breathed fire all the way down it, wagon after wagon, turning the road into a burning scar.
He kept at it for a full fifteen minutes.
Only when every cart in the convoy was afla did he finally stop.
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